‘Catalonia is not Spain’: projecting Catalan identity to tourists in and around Barcelona

Abstract

Since the second half of the nineteenth century, Catalan nationalists have mobilised themselves to assert a political path that will distinguish their region, Catalonia, from the rest of Spain. Rich history and extensive heritage resources count among their best political assets. Meanwhile, Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, has become a premier destination for global tourists, not only for the fun and sun but also because these same Catalan national assets, such as Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia, are major tourist attractions. In fact, Catalanism and tourism are constructed one upon the other. Illustrated here are the ways that Catalonia's most prominent events and most-visited sites engage tourists as witnesses and potential advocates in the struggle to defend a political, linguistic, and cultural inheritance. Catalan nationalists know that tourists represent a means to publicise Catalan political aspirations to the wider world. Still, not everything about the relationship between Catalans and their tourist partners is ideal. Mutually constructive for many decades, the effort to safeguard and promote Catalan distinctiveness often collides with the processes of global tourism to make a potentially explosive cocktail.